NYC, LA and SLC Had The Maximum Number of VHF TV Stations

[Gregg.]

We were talking about markets with back to back TV stations, either 4 and 5, 6 and 7 or 13 and 14.

It got me thinking there were three markets that had the maximum number of VHF stations, seven in all. Here's the list...

New York: 2 CBS, 4 NBC, 5 Fox, 7 ABC, 9 Ind., 11 Ind., 13 PBS

Los Angeles: 2 CBS, 4 NBC, 5 Ind. 7 ABC, 9 Ind, 11 Fox, 13 Ind.

Salt Lake City: 2 CBS, 4 ABC, 5 NBC, 7 PBS (Univ. of Utah), 9 Educational (Utah Education Network), 11 PBS (Brigham Young Univ.), 13 Fox
.

I think Mexico City came close with 2, 4, 5, 7, 9 and 11 but not 13.

 

[itsTheRolyPoly]

Seattle:
KOMO 4.1 - ABC
KING 5.1 - NBC
KIRO 7.1 - CBS
KCTS 9.1 - PBS
KSTW 11.1 - Ind
KVOS 12.1 - UNI
KCPQ 13.1 - FOX

There you go.

 

[Sammi Brie]

We were talking about markets with back to back TV stations, either 4 and 5, 6 and 7 or 13 and 14.

It got me thinking there were three markets that had the maximum number of VHF stations, seven in all. Here's the list...

New York: 2 CBS, 4 NBC, 5 Fox, 7 ABC, 9 Ind., 11 Ind., 13 PBS

Los Angeles: 2 CBS, 4 NBC, 5 Ind. 7 ABC, 9 Ind, 11 Fox, 13 Ind.

Salt Lake City: 2 CBS, 4 ABC, 5 NBC, 7 PBS (Univ. of Utah), 9 Educational (Utah Education Network), 11 PBS (Brigham Young Univ.), 13 Fox
.

I think Mexico City came close with 2, 4, 5, 7, 9 and 11 but not 13.

Mexico was more aggressive: a number of markets had stations shuffled on VHF to accommodate more stations, as late as the early 2000s. One of these was Mexico City itself!

Here's a list of some of the drop-ins Mexico did:

• 1983/1984: XEFB Monterrey moves from 3 to 2. This enables the assignment of 4 as XHWX-TV (which had originally been planned for channel 22). Mty originally was 3 6 8 10 12 but ended 2 4 6 7 10 12.
• 1985: The big central Mexico shuffle. Mexico City was 2 4 5 8 11 13. 8 moved to 9, allowing for the insertion of a new 7. That forced changes to the west (7 changed to 12) and east (7 and 9 changed to 8 and 10). Along the way, the call signs of 8->9 and 9->10 swapped.
• 1993: In Tapachula, channel 3 is moved to 2 and 10 to 11. This allows for a station in another city, Comitán de Domínguez, to move in as channel 4.
• 1994: Colima's channel 12 moved to 11, making room for a drop-in 13.
• 1994: Cancún's channel 3 moved to 2, making room for a drop-in 4.
• 1995: Mérida's channel 3 moved to 2, making room for a drop-in 4. The channel had originally been planned as UHF 40.
• 2001: Oaxaca's channel 3 moved to 4. This enabled the insertion of a drop-in 2, which did not go on until 2010.

Ten of Mexico's 32 states (counting Mexico City) never had any UHF analog main stations (I think at least one had a UHF translator), and it probably took quite some time for UHF receiving equipment to be generally available. This is particularly true when considering that the first three Mexican UHFs went on in 1963, 1969, and 1980, all in northern Mexico. When I saw anniversary material for XHS Ensenada (on the air 12-23-1963), there was mention that people needed converters to see it. The first Mexican UHF station not in a border state was Canal 22 Mexico City, which began in 1982 and even then did not have a transmitter facility on par with the VHF stations.

Early UHFs were XHS 23 (1963), XHBM 14 (1969), a short-lived 14 Matamoros (1976 — it rebroadcast XHDF with some local programming but was gone within a few years), XHIJ Ciudad Juárez 44 (1980), XHAS Tijuana 33 (1981) and then a bit of an explosion in 1982: XHTRM Mexico City 22, XHMNL Monterrey 28, XHAMC Ciudad Acuña 34, and others followed. Mexico City and Tijuana had additional UHF stations approved in the 1960s but that did not come on the air for decades: XHRAE 28 (as XHTC 16) in 1999 and XHBJ 45 in 1990, respectively.

 

[Weiserguy]

Seattle:
KOMO 4.1 - ABC
KING 5.1 - NBC
KIRO 7.1 - CBS
KCTS 9.1 - PBS
KSTW 11.1 - Ind
KVOS 12.1 - UNI
KCPQ 13.1 - FOX

There you go.

Not exactly. While (virtual) channels 11 and 13 are licensed to Tacoma, they are in the SeaTac market. But channel 12 isn't, KVOS is an extreme rimshot from Bellingham, whose OTA signal barely makes it into the Seattle city limits, much less covers the whole market. On cable, yes, but not over the air.

 

[Gregg.]

Seattle:
KOMO 4.1 - ABC
KING 5.1 - NBC
KIRO 7.1 - CBS
KCTS 9.1 - PBS
KSTW 11.1 - Ind
KVOS 12.1 - UNI
KCPQ 13.1 - FOX

It was only missing Channel 2, which was in Vancouver.

And about 12 KVOS. It does get carried by Seattle cable systems but it is about 90 miles north of Seattle. That would be like NYC cable systems carrying Albany stations. KVOS was even a CBS affiliate in its early years, despite KIRO-TV being the CBS station in Seattle. Many viewers in Vancouver's Southern and Eastern suburbs could watch CBS shows from Channel 12, even if they didn't have cable. Maybe some in the city of Vancouver could tune in I Love Lucy and Ed Sullivan from 12 if they had good antennas.

 

[Weiserguy]

It was only missing Channel 2, which was in Vancouver.

And about 12 KVOS. It does get carried by Seattle cable systems but it is about 90 miles north of Seattle. That would be like NYC cable systems carrying Albany stations. KVOS was even a CBS affiliate in its early years, despite KIRO-TV being the CBS station in Seattle. Many viewers in Vancouver's Southern and Eastern suburbs could watch CBS shows from Channel 12, even if they didn't have cable. Maybe some in the city of Vancouver could tune in I Love Lucy and Ed Sullivan from 12 if they had good antennas.

Bellingham is, by a fair amount, closer to Vancouver than it is to the Space Needle.

 

[JeeperOne]

Seattle:
KOMO 4.1 - ABC
KING 5.1 - NBC
KIRO 7.1 - CBS
KCTS 9.1 - PBS
KSTW 11.1 - Ind
KVOS 12.1 - UNI
KCPQ 13.1 - FOX

There you go.

Denver also comes in close

KWGN 2 (CW O&O)
KCNC 4 (cCBS O&O)
KRMA 6 (Rocky Mountain PBS Primary)
KMGH 7 (ABC)
KUSA 9 (NBC)
KBDI 12 (Rocky Mountain PBS Secondary)

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

San Francisco came close too

KTVU 2 (Fox O&O)
KRON 4 (CW)
KPIX 5 (CBS O&O)
KGO 7 (ABC O&O)
KQED 9 (PBS)
KNTV 11 (NBC O&O)

KOVR 13 (now CBS O&O) for Sacramento was originally allocated to the Bay Area but had to move their transmitter off Mount Diablo in able for them to get ABC affiliation to Sacramento in the 1950’s. Some of this is traced to the time when Sacramento lost their first TV station KCCC-TV 40 because UHF receivers was not required in the 1950’s and also stations like KCRA-TV, KVIE and KBET-TV(Now KXTV) were not on the air yet when that happened.

The San Francisco Examiner 04 Jan 1957, page 16 - Newspapers.com

View the digital scanned newspaper from The San Francisco Examiner dated 04 Jan 1957, page 16.

web.archive.org

FADED SIGNALS

Sacramento's first TV station, KCCC-TV, signed on in 1953 as an affiliate of all four networks. It was broadcasting on UHF Channel 40. TV sets were not required to have UHF tuning until 1964, so...

fadedsignals.com

History of UHF Television

uhfhistory.com

 

[fybush]

Let's PLEASE not turn this into another "I'm going to list all my local stations" thread. That information is widely available already and is content we are trying to discourage here.

 

[Mark Roberts]

Denver also comes in close

KWGN 2 (CW O&O)
KCNC 4 (cCBS O&O)
KRMA 6 (Rocky Mountain PBS Primary)
KMGH 7 (ABC)
KUSA 9 (NBC)
KBDI 12 (Rocky Mountain PBS Secondary)

KBDI is not part of Rocky Mountain PBS, although there is some cooperation between the two. It's Colorado Public Television, a/k/a PBS12. It started out as the alternative to the somewhat stuffy KRMA.

 

[CentralFL]

It's understandable that NYC and Los Angeles had the highest number of VHF possible. I'm surprised that other top-tier markets like Chicago and San Francisco didn't have the same amount.

Strange that a small market like Salt Lake City had the maximum amount. It was even smaller when the stations were allocated.

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

In the cases of San Francisco and Chicago one of their VHF signals had to be reallocated to another TV market. Examples are the history of WBKB/WBBM-TV they were originally assigned to channel 4 but the Channel 4 signal had to be reallocated to Milwaukee for WTMJ-TV. WBBM-TV was reassigned to Channel 2 in Chicago.

 

[CentralFL]

In the cases of San Francisco and Chicago one of their VHF signals had to be reallocated to another TV market. Examples are the history of WBKB/WBBM-TV they were originally assigned to channel 4 but the Channel 4 signal had to be reallocated to Milwaukee for WTMJ-TV. WBBM-TV was reassigned to Channel 2 in Chicago.

Thanks for the info on the Chicago market.

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

WBKB Televison

chicagology.com

Here's an explanation on how Chicago's WBBM-TV was reassigned from Channel 4 to Channel 2 in the 1950's. Yes the Channel 4 allocation went to NBC affiliate WTMJ-TV Milwaukee.

Because ABC has a TV station in Chicago, WENR-TV, United Paramount is required WBKB for 6 million dollars and this transaction was also approved.

The FCC order on the merger will affect Chicago station call letters and channels as follows:

Channel 2, now occupied by Zenith on an experimental basis, will go to Columbia, which will use the call letters WBBM-TV;
Channel 4, now occupied by WBKB, will be awarded to a Milwaukee station;
Channel 7, now occupied by WENR, will go to A.B.C.-P.T.I., which will use the call letters WBKB. WENR-TV’s call letters will vanish.

Take Over Channel
H. Leslie Atlass, vice president of the Columbia Broadcasting system’s midwestern division, said CBS took over operation of channel 4 (WBKB) early last night and that the call letters would be changed shortly to WBBM-TV. Subsequently the station will operate on channel 2 when channel 4 is assigned to a station outside Chicago.

The FCC dismissed the application by Zenith Radio corporation for a commercial station to operate on channel 2, which Zenith has been using for experiments in phonevision, pay-as-you-look TV and for color TV.

 

[Mark Roberts]

Strange that a small market like Salt Lake City had the maximum amount. It was even smaller when the stations were allocated.

It's an isolated mountain market that contains the region's primary city. The same applies for Albuquerque/Santa Fe and El Paso/Juárez (almost).

 

[ftballfan]

DFW comes close, with 2, 4, 5, 8, 11, and 13 (7 was allocated to Lawton and Tyler while 9 was allocated to Abilene, Lufkin, and Oklahoma City).

 

[vchimpanzee]

WBKB Televison

chicagology.com

Here's an explanation on how Chicago's WBBM-TV was reassigned from Channel 4 to Channel 2 in the 1950's. Yes the Channel 4 allocation went to NBC affiliate WTMJ-TV Milwaukee.

There seems to be a word or two missing.

 

[JeeperOne]

Denver also comes in close

KWGN 2 (CW O&O)
KCNC 4 (cCBS O&O)
KRMA 6 (Rocky Mountain PBS Primary)
KMGH 7 (ABC)
KUSA 9 (NBC)
KBDI 12 (Rocky Mountain PBS Secondary)

KBDI is not part of Rocky Mountain PBS, although there is some cooperation between the two. It's Colorado Public Television, a/k/a PBS12. It started out as the alternative to the somewhat stuffy KRMA.

Yoiu might want to read THIS

KBDI-TV - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Sammi Brie]

The 1952 allocation plan foresaw NCE channels for a lot of state universities, so a V allocated at Boulder made sense. CU never found a use enough for the channel to actually build it. What KBDI did was rope that toward Denver by filing to build it at Broomfield, which was within 15 miles of Boulder. FCC rules allowed the use of a channel allocated to a community in any city within 15 miles.

That thinking shows up in the placement of some of the original NCE channels in 1952, and even though a lot of places were left out, look at some of the COLs that were put in, including two simply labeled "University", as well as Gainesville, Athens, Carbondale, DeKalb, Manhattan and Lawrence KS, Orono, Ann Arbor, Chapel Hill, Oxford OH, Norman OK, Clemson SC, Vermillion SD, College Station TX, Denton TX, Blacksburg VA, and Laramie WY.

Of course, not all of those channels ever got built. Southern Illinois University was given channel 61 and basically said, "What are we going to do with this?" It took the FCC deciding to throw them channel 8 to get them to build a TV station. In other states, network plans more closely tied to state agencies and not universities drove the bus.

 

[Mark Roberts]

The 1952 allocation plan foresaw NCE channels for a lot of state universities, so a V allocated at Boulder made sense. CU never found a use enough for the channel to actually build it. What KBDI did was rope that toward Denver by filing to build it at Broomfield, which was within 15 miles of Boulder. FCC rules allowed the use of a channel allocated to a community in any city within 15 miles.

That thinking shows up in the placement of some of the original NCE channels in 1952, and even though a lot of places were left out, look at some of the COLs that were put in, including two simply labeled "University", as well as Gainesville, Athens, Carbondale, DeKalb, Manhattan and Lawrence KS, Orono, Ann Arbor, Chapel Hill, Oxford OH, Norman OK, Clemson SC, Vermillion SD, College Station TX, Denton TX, Blacksburg VA, and Laramie WY.

Of course, not all of those channels ever got built. Southern Illinois University was given channel 61 and basically said, "What are we going to do with this?" It took the FCC deciding to throw them channel 8 to get them to build a TV station. In other states, network plans more closely tied to state agencies and not universities drove the bus.

And some were built elsewhere, such as KTWU at Washburn University in Topeka, which was on channel 11. Interesting enough, once translators were transformed into LPTVs, KU built an LPTV on channel 6. @route56 probably knows a lot more about that than I do.

The University of Missouri's KOMU became all-commercial after the FCC turned down an MU proposal to operate half-time commercial and half-time educational. Central Missouri had no noncommercial allocation until 1965. That one almost was lit up in the 1990s when St. Louis's KETC proposed building a satellite station in Columbia, but then the digital transition happened and channel 36 instead became the transitional UHF frequency for...KOMU. The public TV station that finally did arrive in central Missouri was on a commercial allocation, and once had operated commercially. (Edit: I wrote this in a slightly misleading way and need to clarify it. KMOS in Sedalia actually became an educational station in 1979, but did not have a good signal in much of central Missouri until it erected a tall tower near Syracuse, Missouri, in the 2000s.)

As for Broomfield's PBS12, it is definitely a secondary service (in the sense of not having first dibs on PBS programming, not in technical terms). Rocky Mountain PBS (KRMA) is primary, with stations in Denver, Pueblo, Durango, Steamboat Springs, and Grand Junction, plus numerous translators. As far as I can tell, the Broomfield station doesn't have that kind of reach.

(Multiple edits here; sorry, as I was typing the original post, an ocular migraine took hold and I was struggling somewhat just to get the post written.)